are we required to carry insurance papers within the car at all times?
 

helping a friend ask this as she was involved in a slight accident and the other party didn't have the insurance papers with her

Yes, you are required to carry them in the car or on your person while driving.

How do you know if the other party has insurance or not if they cannot produce it immediately at the scene of the accident? I would just call for police and have them deal with those clowns.... it even said so in the insurance paper to keep it with the vehicle...

no insurance, MVA 24(5)b $598
fail to produce insurance MVA 33(1) $81

think of it this way..do you carry your drivers license around with you? well think of that as another one but instead of carrying it in your wallet its carried in your car

What should have the OP's friend done? Getting into an accident while the other party have no insurance paper? Call the cops? Record as many info as humanly possible without cops?

Pretty much.

As soon as the other party cannot produce either DL or insurance papers, I would call the cops. After calling the cops/while on the phone, I would write down as much info as I can.

But getting witnesses is the number 1 priority in most situations. As soon as an accident happens, you should be getting witnesses then get all the info. If there is no info to be exchanged cause the other party doesn't have any, just call the cops.

would I call 911 or non-emergency number?
I don't know the non-emergency number.

Call 911.

Non emergency number is (604) 717-3321.

Thanks for the info...when I got in my first accident 3 years ago (I was at fault since I rear-ended), I was so frazzled I didn't take down any of other info (DL ID or insurance). For all I know, she was not properly insured/licensed but I ended up being at 100% fault through ICBC anyways...the ICBC adjuster gave me the person's name who reported it, but since I didn't have their info, no way for me to know if it was the actual driver or not (She was also EI, so I didn't even know if the gender matched or not).

Would you call non-emergency if there was an accident and you need the
police involved to sort things out?

No one's really being threatened, but based on the examples given in the VPD site,
the situation does require immediate action (since both parties aren't gonna
be there all day). So would I call 911 instead in this case?

If both parties are willing to stay until a police officer arrives, I don't see the need to call the emergency line. Only if one party is being threatened in a hostile manner or one party tries to leave the scene of the accident, then an emergency call is necessary.

kind of off topic question but if you get pulled over by a cop and he ask for your license and registration, would you be allowed to step out of your car to get the registration? because i don't keep mine in the glove compartment like most people do just in case someone steals it if my car is broken into

Just make sure you tell your officer your intentions. When I was pulled over, I rolled down my window and had my hands on the wheel. When he asked for it, I told him I need to reach for it in the place where I hide it and it wasn't the glove box. As long as you let him know, then he should be fine with it. The officer even used his flashlight to help light up the area for me (most likely for his own protection too so he can see what's happening), but he was really friendly and polite.

I don't necessarily agree with this.

I would call the emergency line because who knows why this person doesn't have the appropriate documents. Better safe than sorry.

i dont know if it's already there but i think there should be a section in road sense book on teaching new drivers on how to deal with accidents

yes it may just be common sense, but when someone gets into their first accident it may be hard to stay calm and think clearly (grabbing witnesses first).

Believe it or not, in the military, we have a checklist and paperwork that are always in our vehicles in case of accidents.

IMO, this is also the best way to go about it even in the civilian world.

How quickly do they come if I call non-emergency?

I'd just call 911. Years ago, I called the non emergency number for a noise complaint about a house party over a block away. The lady on the other end said I should call 911 if I want police onsite otherwise it's "get to it when we can" type deal.

911 is for emergencies only. The call taker at 911 and at your local police non-emergency number should properly prioritize your call based on the information provided.

Response times will vary based on each independent situation as well as the current call load at the time.

if you are in an accident , and the other party does not have their DL and you dont call the cops - ICBC will not care the other party failed to produce a licence. If other driver can BS enough you will be at fault.

Yes, ICBC doesn't care if that person has its license with him or not. But how do you know if that person is who he says he is? He could say he is joe45 from RS and you have no way to prove what he says is correct. And there is also the possibility that the vehicle he was operating is a stolen vehicle. Hence, police assistance is required to identify the driver and if possession of the vehicle was authorized by the owner. Also, police would be the one issuing the ticket for failure to produce driver's license.

thanks all for the info!

kind of ontopic question, in the mix of insurance papers at the bottom there's a piece to be torn off that has all the car details etc on it. I was under the impression you're supposed to keep that separate from the paperwork in the car in case you lose it or something, but when I was pulled over the other day the officer specifically asked for the torn off piece with all the details (not my car) and I had it, but now I'm confused as to what you're supposed to do with it.

^That is the vehicle registration. You'll need to produce that if requested by a peace officer whether it's kept in your wallet or in the vehicle.